Present methods of producing aetzed embroideries are well known and may be categorized into three different types of methods. For example, in one well-known method, the embroidery is stitched onto a silk cloth or backing which is completely disintegrated with caustic soda and boiling water. This method is inconvenient and uneconomical as a bleachery facility is required. In addition, the shaped of the embroideries are distorted because of shrinkage and colors are apt to run due to the extreme temperatures involved in the process. Further, such embroideries require extra underlay stitches which further adds to the cost of the method. Another common method is to stitch the embroidery on a polyvinyl alcohol cloth backing which is dissolved in boiling water. However, this method has all of the disadvantages of the first method described above and, in addition, has inferior stitching quality due to the backing of polyvinyl alcohol cloth. A third method involves stitching an embroidery onto a heat degradable cloth having a rayon base, such as KTM cloth. In this method, the cloth backing is disintegrated with direct or RF heat depending on the type of bonding yarn used in the cloth backing. However, this method requires the use of a monofilament fusable yarn which requires front-to-back embroidery stitching which increases production costs. In addition, the embroideries cannot be given a desirable three-dimensional appearance. Further, RF heat applying equipment is costly and the disintegrated cloth backing leaves a residue. Accordingly, although the above-described methods teach the preparation of aetzed embroideries by the destruction or disintegration of the backing material, none of these methods teach the use of backing materials which permit the simple fusing and removal of any excess backing material. Moreover, none of these methods involve the simultaneous application of an adhesive backing to the embroidery. U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,774 to Clarke and British Patent No. 1,202,357 to Evans are, however, of interest, with respect to the application of an adhesive to an article.
It is an overall object of the present invention to provide an improved method of preparing articles of aetzed embroidery by stitching the embroideries onto a backing of thermoplastic material and then fusing the thermoplastic backing material thereto and removing any excess by bringing it in contact with a transfer strip. It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide an improved method of preparing articles of aetzed embroidery having an adhesive coating on the backs thereof and mounting the articles by the adhesive coatings on a carrier strip for storage thereon and ready removal therefrom. It is a still more specific object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and simple method to prepare aetzed embroideries and to provide an improved resultant product.